So im a sound production student and am about to graduate. I Focus my attention on producing soundtracks for short films and mixing. I've been using HD25's for the last 2 years, they are leftovers from my DJing life. I spend most of my time in protools, using an MBox as DAC and in ableton live 8 using the 3.5mm jack on my macbook pro.

Anyway i need some decent advice, ive gotten lost in all the reviews and specs. Im looking at getting some new headphones, was going to spend around $600.

now it seems pointless getting headphones at that price range without an amp. So who can recommend a combo for around $700? portable amp would be better but if you think it isn't worth the extra cost to maintain quality then non-portable would be acceptable.

Most DJ/Pro interfaces will have headphone outs good enough to power most cans. The HD25 isn't a bad mixing headphone to be honest, but if you want something more revealing and look into the K/Q701 or DT880 and a nice interface (like the MBox).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Southerndan

Hi Guys,

So im a sound production student and am about to graduate. I Focus my attention on producing soundtracks for short films and mixing. I've been using HD25's for the last 2 years, they are leftovers from my DJing life. I spend most of my time in protools, using an MBox as DAC and in ableton live 8 using the 3.5mm jack on my macbook pro.

Anyway i need some decent advice, ive gotten lost in all the reviews and specs. Im looking at getting some new headphones, was going to spend around $600.

now it seems pointless getting headphones at that price range without an amp. So who can recommend a combo for around $700? portable amp would be better but if you think it isn't worth the extra cost to maintain quality then non-portable would be acceptable.

Music styles: I literally listen to everything from pure instrumental like Rodrigo y Gabriela to folk musicians like Sufjan Stevens. I want vocals to be clear since lyrics are everything to me but I do enjoy the feeling of bass as well (sometimes dubstep is the answer lol). Basically, all around balanced phones with decent bass as well.

Previous experience: Owned some decent IEMs (S4, and turbines). Both broke due to cable problems. I then purchased the Kicker headphones (modded them quite a bit). Enjoyed the kicker phones a great deal(great bass but mids were a little muffled/recessed imo but still better than the ath m50 and srh440) but had one main problem. After about an hour of listening the top of my head would ache (headband on top dug in for some reason). I have a feeling that this was just due to the design of the kickers.

I then purchased the v-moda M-80s. The build quality and design were incredible for these headphones. Sound quality was quite good too but there was buzzing and distortion in the subbass at higher volumes. The buzzing was very noticeable in heavy subbass songs like James Blakes-Limit to your love. Other than that the SQ was well balanced. Isolation was poor. But, the main problem (and why I returned them) was that after about 20min of listening my ears would hurt like hell. I'm not sure if it is just my head or the weird hexagonal cup shape of the m-80s but I'm starting to believe that on ear headphones and me are diametrically opposed since the HD 25s caused the same problem.

Caveats: For me sound and comfort are the main things but it wouldn't hurt to have some style, customisability, or flair. Going to be working through an iphone but will purchase an FiiO e7 in the near future.

Price=up to 250$

So what should I do? I need portable headphones (not iems) but have found that on ears are just giving me too much pain (limits my options). Does anyone have any recommendations for good sound quality headphones that are also more comfortable than headphones like the M-80s and HD 25s?

Hello everyone, new guy here. Looking to get some guidence on which to get. It is between the Ultrasone Pro 750, which is around $280, and the Ultrasone Pro 900 which can be anywhere from $350 to $600 depending on the direction of the wind.

The purpose of these cans will be for gaming (Battlefield 3 mainly) and lossless music in a 40/60 ratio. As far as my music taste goes. I like electronic, pop, and metal. I LOVE bass but I do not want out of control bass that will take away from the rest of the experience though. I pretty much want as much controlled bass as I can get. I guess my question is... Is the Pro 900 at $600 worth it over the Pro 750? I need a set of phones pretty soon so I am willing to drop retail on the 900s if they are worth it.

P.S. I am not an audiophile but I am an **** when it comes to quality sound and I am looking to get my feet wet with pro grade audio equipment. :-)

I have auditioned them before in their fresh-out-of-the-box state, and it was incredibly crappy. 100-400 hours of burn-in changes them A LOT. I may also recommend asking for a loaner Pro 900 for a week or two, in order to judge if they are the right headphones for you. They also won't need an amp (but they will benefit from it), so its a good choice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liquidpain

Hello everyone, new guy here. Looking to get some guidence on which to get. It is between the Ultrasone Pro 750, which is around $280, and the Ultrasone Pro 900 which can be anywhere from $350 to $600 depending on the direction of the wind.

The purpose of these cans will be for gaming (Battlefield 3 mainly) and lossless music in a 40/60 ratio. As far as my music taste goes. I like electronic, pop, and metal. I LOVE bass but I do not want out of control bass that will take away from the rest of the experience though. I pretty much want as much controlled bass as I can get. I guess my question is... Is the Pro 900 at $600 worth it over the Pro 750? I need a set of phones pretty soon so I am willing to drop retail on the 900s if they are worth it.

P.S. I am not an audiophile but I am an **** when it comes to quality sound and I am looking to get my feet wet with pro grade audio equipment. :-)

I prefer the Pro 750 to the Pro 900. It's more balanced and IMO a better all rounder.

Plenty of kick and for me sounded nice out of the box. Though I would be cautious with gaming on them. S Logic is good for some and bad for others. I played games with mine no problem but some dislike it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liquidpain

Hello everyone, new guy here. Looking to get some guidence on which to get. It is between the Ultrasone Pro 750, which is around $280, and the Ultrasone Pro 900 which can be anywhere from $350 to $600 depending on the direction of the wind.

The purpose of these cans will be for gaming (Battlefield 3 mainly) and lossless music in a 40/60 ratio. As far as my music taste goes. I like electronic, pop, and metal. I LOVE bass but I do not want out of control bass that will take away from the rest of the experience though. I pretty much want as much controlled bass as I can get. I guess my question is... Is the Pro 900 at $600 worth it over the Pro 750? I need a set of phones pretty soon so I am willing to drop retail on the 900s if they are worth it.

P.S. I am not an audiophile but I am an **** when it comes to quality sound and I am looking to get my feet wet with pro grade audio equipment. :-)

Music styles: I literally listen to everything from pure instrumental like Rodrigo y Gabriela to folk musicians like Sufjan Stevens. I want vocals to be clear since lyrics are everything to me but I do enjoy the feeling of bass as well (sometimes dubstep is the answer lol). Basically, all around balanced phones with decent bass as well.

Previous experience: Owned some decent IEMs (S4, and turbines). Both broke due to cable problems. I then purchased the Kicker headphones (modded them quite a bit). Enjoyed the kicker phones a great deal(great bass but mids were a little muffled/recessed imo but still better than the ath m50 and srh440) but had one main problem. After about an hour of listening the top of my head would ache (headband on top dug in for some reason). I have a feeling that this was just due to the design of the kickers.

I then purchased the v-moda M-80s. The build quality and design were incredible for these headphones. Sound quality was quite good too but there was buzzing and distortion in the subbass at higher volumes. The buzzing was very noticeable in heavy subbass songs like James Blakes-Limit to your love. Other than that the SQ was well balanced. Isolation was poor. But, the main problem (and why I returned them) was that after about 20min of listening my ears would hurt like hell. I'm not sure if it is just my head or the weird hexagonal cup shape of the m-80s but I'm starting to believe that on ear headphones and me are diametrically opposed since the HD 25s caused the same problem.

Caveats: For me sound and comfort are the main things but it wouldn't hurt to have some style, customisability, or flair. Going to be working through an iphone but will purchase an FiiO e7 in the near future.

Price=up to 250$

So what should I do? I need portable headphones (not iems) but have found that on ears are just giving me too much pain (limits my options). Does anyone have any recommendations for good sound quality headphones that are also more comfortable than headphones like the M-80s and HD 25s?

I've been considering the esw9s and the denon 1100s.

THANKS SO MUCH!

Just a teensy bit outside your price point, but the B&W P5 is super comfortable and has excellent isolation. I don't really like on-ears for comfort either, but I'd make an exception for the P5.

For full sized with high isolation and some portability, consider the Senn HD380.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Implar

Hi all,

Over the past couple of months I've been contemplating upgrading my gear, with christmas coming up and all :)

Right now I'm using a Sennheiser HD555, plugged in directly to my Macbook. I've been looking into the FiiO E7/E9 combo as a DAC/Amp, but I've read that it wouldn't make a huge difference with my HD555.

I listen almost exclusively to metal, ranging from Metallica to Cannibal Corpse to Mayhem, and all in between. I'm looking to spend about 200-300 euros on a headphone.

I've been scanning a couple of pages in this thread, and I've read some good stuff about Grado.

However, I can't quite make it out on some photos, but the headphone must be around-ear, not on-ear. I like how my HD555 feels, so something along those lines.

So in short: Headphone for metal, 200-300 euros, around-ear.

Grados come with a couple different pads. They have the flats and bowls, and there's a jumbo size one whose name I forget. Since you're not in the US, consider getting the Alessandro line which are very similar to grados but without the huge markup in prices outside the US.

If you're looking at the FiiO combo, the AKG K701 is also reportedly a very good match with that amp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MastahRiz

Could someone help me with a comparison between the ATH-900 and the ATH-M50? I want to get the best isolation and least leakage. Also, which do you think would work better for music like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Daft Punk?

Thanks in advance.

The A900 or the AD900? In any event, both are very different from the M50. The full sized winged Audio Technicas are very different from their closed studio headphones. The winged models are typically airy and mid-centric with good soundstage. The monitors are punchier with stronger bass and treble, and much reduced staging.

For your genres, the M50 would probably be better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kalkain

forgot to add, I'm looking at a price range of about 1.2k to 1.4k... SO no LCD-3. I doubt the improved sound is worth 1 k anyway.... Haha

When you're poking around at flagships, it's better to browse around their specific threads and read for a while rather than listen to us yokels here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Southerndan

Hi Guys,

So im a sound production student and am about to graduate. I Focus my attention on producing soundtracks for short films and mixing. I've been using HD25's for the last 2 years, they are leftovers from my DJing life. I spend most of my time in protools, using an MBox as DAC and in ableton live 8 using the 3.5mm jack on my macbook pro.Anyway i need some decent advice, ive gotten lost in all the reviews and specs. Im looking at getting some new headphones, was going to spend around $600.

now it seems pointless getting headphones at that price range without an amp. So who can recommend a combo for around $700? portable amp would be better but if you think it isn't worth the extra cost to maintain quality then non-portable would be acceptable.

For your uses, I would say the headphone gear you currently have is good enough. Spend the money on monitors and room treatment instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liquidpain

Hello everyone, new guy here. Looking to get some guidence on which to get. It is between the Ultrasone Pro 750, which is around $280, and the Ultrasone Pro 900 which can be anywhere from $350 to $600 depending on the direction of the wind.

The purpose of these cans will be for gaming (Battlefield 3 mainly) and lossless music in a 40/60 ratio. As far as my music taste goes. I like electronic, pop, and metal. I LOVE bass but I do not want out of control bass that will take away from the rest of the experience though. I pretty much want as much controlled bass as I can get. I guess my question is... Is the Pro 900 at $600 worth it over the Pro 750? I need a set of phones pretty soon so I am willing to drop retail on the 900s if they are worth it.

P.S. I am not an audiophile but I am an **** when it comes to quality sound and I am looking to get my feet wet with pro grade audio equipment. :-)

If you can afford the time to be patient, I've seen the Pro900 go for $300 before.

Just to note however, if you're a competitive gamer too much bass is actually a bad thing as it will obscure your direction sense.

im completely set on either the HIFIMAN HE 5LE and e9 amp, the denon d7000 no amp, or sennheiser HD650 with e9. im not really a basshead. i really enjoy music such as coldplay nowadays. i have the e7 so if i get the e9 it will be the combo

ps i have heard from headroom that the new "SHINY" HE 5LE are metal. is that true?

IMO the HE5LE needs more amp than the E9. Do you by chance have a receiver you could power them out of?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dgiant

im completely set on either the HIFIMAN HE 5LE and e9 amp, the denon d7000 no amp, or sennheiser HD650 with e9. im not really a basshead. i really enjoy music such as coldplay nowadays. i have the e7 so if i get the e9 it will be the combo

ps i have heard from headroom that the new "SHINY" HE 5LE are metal. is that true?

Looking to help my dad out with some new headphones in the (somewhat flexible) $100-200 range. He's temporarily in a loud cubicle environment and is using some cheap off the rack headphones to listen to classical music and deaden the noise. Given the price range, IEMs are not an option, and I doubt I could sell him on ear buds as extended wear comfort is critical. Also of note that as an older man, the upper range of frequencies is not really audible, so it's ok if recommended headphones are not perfect in the super high ranges.

I'm currently using a set of ATH-AD700s, but those won't do for a loud environment, and given my previous experience in this price range with Sennheiser (http://www.head-fi.org/t/262802/hd555-stress-cracks), I don't think they are an option either. And so I have no personal experience to drive me towards a good option, hence this post.

So I have a couple of questions:

1) Thoughts on noise canceling or not? I've never used canceling headphones, and can imagine they might be problematic in a cubical with getting startled/surprised, and yet it seems like a very good option to be able to listen to classical at a normal volume in a loud space.

2) What are some good options, and what tradeoffs should I be looking to make?

I've come to this forum in seek of help :) I'm planing on buying a new pair of headphones: I've been looking around for a few days now, and I'm starting to settle for some specific models. Before getting into details, there's a catch: I'm buying online and there's nowhere I can go to give these cans a try; so if possible, I'd appreciate specific details rather than taste preferences.

My price range is $100 - $200 ($220 would be pushing it). I have a very eclectic taste (metal, alternative, electro, trance -bigger on these genres-, etc, etc even some latin and classical music), so I'm looking for a durable multipurpose set, with great definition and a clear sound. Aesthetics and comfort are an important matter as well. So basically, I want it all: great sound quality (good bass included), good looks and comfort, on a budget. I know is tough, but I also know you're the go-to guys on this subject.

So cutting to the chase, these are the ones I have in mind (not biased toward any specific brand):

*AKG K 272 HD

*Ultrasone DJ1 S-Logic

*Ultrasone HFI-580 S-Logic

Solely based on looks (I know I may take some heat for these):

*V-Moda Crossfade

*Skullcandy Aviator

Left out Grados, because I've read they're overall not really comfortable. I'm opened to recommendations from you experts. My ears are untrained, but I know what I like :)

Now that I have some awesome equipment on the way, does anyone have any recommendations? I'm thinking of just listening with headphones first, then adding the amp, so I can get an idea of the difference with and without. I'm going to survey all of my music for a few hours to get an idea of how things sound. Of course, I don't have any experience with high end equipment so I have no standard of comparison, but I'm really ******* excited about it.

Looking to help my dad out with some new headphones in the (somewhat flexible) $100-200 range. He's temporarily in a loud cubicle environment and is using some cheap off the rack headphones to listen to classical music and deaden the noise. Given the price range, IEMs are not an option, and I doubt I could sell him on ear buds as extended wear comfort is critical. Also of note that as an older man, the upper range of frequencies is not really audible, so it's ok if recommended headphones are not perfect in the super high ranges.

I'm currently using a set of ATH-AD700s, but those won't do for a loud environment, and given my previous experience in this price range with Sennheiser (http://www.head-fi.org/t/262802/hd555-stress-cracks), I don't think they are an option either. And so I have no personal experience to drive me towards a good option, hence this post.

So I have a couple of questions:

1) Thoughts on noise canceling or not? I've never used canceling headphones, and can imagine they might be problematic in a cubical with getting startled/surprised, and yet it seems like a very good option to be able to listen to classical at a normal volume in a loud space.

2) What are some good options, and what tradeoffs should I be looking to make?

King of passive isolation on a budget is the Sennheiser HD280. One step up is the HD380. With active cancellation built on the same chassis, there's the PXC350 and 450.

Near the top of your budget you can find a Beyer DT770pro for just under $200, which has isolation to rival the HD280. The Beyer sounds better with an amp, but it's serviceable without.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jukoi

Hello gurus,

I've come to this forum in seek of help :) I'm planing on buying a new pair of headphones: I've been looking around for a few days now, and I'm starting to settle for some specific models. Before getting into details, there's a catch: I'm buying online and there's nowhere I can go to give these cans a try; so if possible, I'd appreciate specific details rather than taste preferences.

My price range is $100 - $200 ($220 would be pushing it). I have a very eclectic taste (metal, alternative, electro, trance -bigger on these genres-, etc, etc even some latin and classical music), so I'm looking for a durable multipurpose set, with great definition and a clear sound. Aesthetics and comfort are an important matter as well. So basically, I want it all: great sound quality (good bass included), good looks and comfort, on a budget. I know is tough, but I also know you're the go-to guys on this subject.

So cutting to the chase, these are the ones I have in mind (not biased toward any specific brand):

*AKG K 272 HD

*Ultrasone DJ1 S-Logic

*Ultrasone HFI-580 S-Logic

Solely based on looks (I know I may take some heat for these):

*V-Moda Crossfade

*Skullcandy Aviator

Left out Grados, because I've read they're overall not really comfortable. I'm opened to recommendations from you experts. My ears are untrained, but I know what I like :)

The AKG wants an amp to sound good. If going with an Ultrasone, I would recommend the HFi780 for a more balanced sound. If going V-Moda, pick the M80 for a more balanced sound although it has weak isolation.

Now that I have some awesome equipment on the way, does anyone have any recommendations? I'm thinking of just listening with headphones first, then adding the amp, so I can get an idea of the difference with and without. I'm going to survey all of my music for a few hours to get an idea of how things sound. Of course, I don't have any experience with high end equipment so I have no standard of comparison, but I'm really ******* excited about it.